


A Great Discovery

by AtomicMeteorite



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Adventure, Discovery, Gen, Hunters & Hunting, Introspection, Predator/Prey, Reflection, Self-Discovery, Self-Reflection, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:22:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26418643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtomicMeteorite/pseuds/AtomicMeteorite
Summary: One-shot. The Hunter encounters a group of bugs that will forever change his methods of hunting. He reflects on this experience in his journal. Takes place before the in-game story begins.
Kudos: 19





	A Great Discovery

Perhaps it had been the day that I began my hunt when I had first questioned my ways of hunting and even the morality of killing. It hadn't been intentional. Why, the only reason I had even come to question it at all was by cause of a group of friendly bugs that I had encountered.

In the past, the main rule I had clung onto was to kill everything that moved. This proved to be problematic as I would occasionally encounter a bug that was a bit too strong for my taste. 

This group of bugs that showed up gave no indication of fear when I attacked them nor a hint of anger and they were well equipped. Most of my prey, the weaklings that I hunt, would cower in fear or lash out in a blind rage, so it was to my surprise that this group of what was supposed to be my prey, did not do such things. Instead, they attempted to defeat me through a masterful strategy, one that put my hunting skills to shame. They were even careful not to kill me.

This all occurred in the overgrown vegetation of Greenpath, my natural habitat. I had the advantage yet they still defeated me. I was arrogant, foolish. My mind was in disarray and my bloodlust out of control. The methods that they had used to defeat me were outlandish for my younger self at the time. They had kept me at bay with strange weapons that appeared to be abnormally long nails which were capable of reaching farther than the average nail. They would also use silk to restrain me at times then one would charge forward to strike me with a standard, well-kept nail while I was stuck. Even stranger, any time one of them would cut too deep into my skin they would retreat and reorganize themselves. Eventually, I grew too tired and was forced to accept defeat as I dropped unconscious. I believed that they would have killed me but after waking up, I realized they had spared me. In fact, they were still there in the area we had fought in.

"Why?," I questioned. What had made these bugs spare me? My understanding of hunting had been destroyed.

"Oh we aren't here to kill, we're here to study" One of them replied. It was a spider, the one that had used its silk to trap me.

"Study?" I was confused. I had never heard of such a thing before.

"Yes, we're working for a group of scholars in the nearby kingdom. We're looking to record all the wild bugs in the area," the spider continued.

"Hmmm…perhaps my methods of hunting are inadequate…" I felt the webs restricting me loosen.

"You don't seem to be a wild bug judging by how you can speak. We have no interest in you but please do not attempt to attack us again" another bug of the group explained. It was a pill bug and it wore a strange mask.

Speechless, I nodded and sauntered off to my hideout. I had much to reflect on.  
  


* * *

The following months after this incident, I had become much more aware of small details in all the prey I had ever hunted. These details were quite subtle and had I never taken the time to study such trivial habits of bugs, I would have never noticed.

I noticed the way moss knights lost their footing when they swung a little too hard. I took note of the patterns moss charger's unknowingly made when they took to camouflaging themselves under a pile of leaves. I was no longer surprised by the occasional hidden mosskin. It was a rejuvenating experience. 

The act of hunting was now something much more.

It was an art.

In the past, I had only focused on the obvious. The telltale signs that a hostile bug was about to attack or in an alert state. These were all the signs I needed and saw in my prey but now there was practically a whole other world of minuscule details to aid my future hunts. My main goal did not change, however: to kill everything that moves but with more intricate tactics and the use of..."studying" my prey as those bugs called it.

To think that I could be defeated in my own habitat, it's humiliating. My siblings and I would always hunt each other in our own nest and in each battle I would always triumph over them. I was victorious over all who faced me, undefeated for a very long time, yet these tiny beings managed to defeat me. I could not comprehend it. It was the first time I had considered another bug to be much more intelligent and stronger than me. I even considered how they could have seen me as nothing but a primitive bug in the face of their superior weapons and strategies that I could've only dreamed of replicating at the time. It is true that there are indeed some bugs that have come close to defeating me before the incident but none were victorious. Now, after my encounter with this group of warriors that came from a more civilized land was I defeated.

In retrospect, it does not come as a surprise yet something inside of me says that I should have prepared for such strong prey. These bugs were no weaklings. They were trained and able to adapt to whatever environment they battled in. I observed this and other useful tactics that were used against me in that fight. 

Today, I can say that those same bugs would not so easily defeat me. I have learned and trained just as they have. I have sought to fight against even stronger foe and to learn from these fights.

I have taken notice of a passion in all of my stronger prey. In all of my encounters with such formidable opponents, they fought with all their soul. Behind every attack came the very essence of their being. I saw a side of them that no other bug could ever hope to witness. They had their friends and family behind them and they would do whatever they must to protect them. Most of these warriors came from the nearby kingdom. It was from this that I began to further question the morality of my hunting. But I must clarify that I do not hold remorse for any weaklings I kill. It is only for those that are much stronger and determined, do I show a small hint of remorse for their death for I know that I have vanquished a great warrior that would have surely led an accomplished life had they not met such a hunter as I. 

I was fascinated with the warriors of such ferocious strength.

The first time I had put my new skills to the test was against a stray guard from the nearby kingdom. It's deft swordsmanship was a challenge and it was much bigger than the other pests that came from the kingdom. It had a red shell and a great shield.

I noticed something strange about this particular guard, however. They had a strange orange glow emanating from their eyes and it appeared as if they were sick as they stumbled about foolishly. This was unlike the other guards and knights that I have encountered after my first defeat. It seemed the kingdom was going through a dark era as such an illness would surely wipe out any pathetically weak bugs for even their strongest of guards fell ill to such a malady. Even in such a degraded state, this guard was still one toilsome opponent.

I learned from a nearby village that the soldiers from this kingdom all trained under the same regiment and so I stole a book from their city and studied the training that they underwent. It's quite foolish for them to write down such precious information but no matter.

He attacked first but I was quicker. I learned from my studies that the guards were vulnerable after a strangely periodic strike that had been ingrained into their head during their training and so I patiently awaited for another attack and before he knew it, he was dead. I observed the strange orange goop that was released from his body. I was careful not to touch it but I noticed it seemed to glow.

'How strange' I pondered on what could've been the cause of such a disease.

I hurried back to my den soon after this.

I have since learned that there has been a great catastrophe that has occurred in Hollownest, or however they call their pathetic kingdom. The strange illness has transformed much of the wildlife and many of the pests that come from the kingdom to Greenpath. All of the victims share the same symptoms of orange eyes and living in a constant drunken state. So as to ensure my safety, I went into hibernation for quite some time. It is suffice to say that the worst of this illness has passed through.

All kingdoms fall, and it seems that this one is close to its end. No matter, now there are even more weaklings for me to hunt. I have awakened from my slumber, I must continue the hunt and further my knowledge of all my prey. Through all the lands and kingdoms of this world, I will learn of every bug and knight and I shall study their ways. This journal will serve as a compendium of all that I find.

  
I will never be defeated again.


End file.
